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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27614665">Now Pick Up the Pieces</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dillbugg/pseuds/Dillbugg'>Dillbugg</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pieces in a Puzzle Box (Dream SMP Recovery AU) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Injury Recovery, Recovery, Switching pronouns for Eret, The Manberg Festival, basically Schlatt gets Tubbo dependent on a potion and then mixes it with another potion, local author takes throwaway bits to seriously and gives Tubbo a past life as Caesar, thats what that is about if anyone is wondering</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:53:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27614665</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dillbugg/pseuds/Dillbugg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Wilbur wakes up from the dead, Tubbo has visions of a past life. That’s not important. What is, is that Tubbo’s been drugged and now his memory is a static filled, broken mess. Fundy finds help from an unlikely, yet welcome place.</p><p>Or;</p><p>“Eret,” Fundy announces, like this is some bold declaration, “I don’t know why you did what you did, and I don’t know if I’ll ever understand.”</p><p>He cuts himself off and reigns in his emotions. Then, making eye contact with them through the shades, he says, “I forgive you.”</p><p>“Fundy-“ And they sound close to tears, but Fundy keeps going.</p><p>“I forgive you, I have for a while now, and I just thought you should know that.” Fundy says, then steps forward and grabs Eret in a hug.</p><p>For a few painful seconds, they don’t move and Fundy’s completely stiff, tail fluffed and ears completely rigid. Then Eret coughs, then hiccups and then Fundy realizes they’re crying, and finally, finally, they’re hugging him back.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eret &amp; Floris | Fundy, Floris | Fundy &amp; Toby Smith | Tubbo, Floris | Fundy &amp; Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo &amp; TommyInnit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pieces in a Puzzle Box (Dream SMP Recovery AU) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018948</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>218</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Now Pick Up the Pieces</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The world starts out blurry, and no matter how many times he blinks, there is no clarity, no sharpened edges, definition escapes his sight. And then, he picks up his arm, which is just as useful as a deadweight, and fumbles around on the table next to his bedside in search of his glasses.</p><p>“Oh my god,” He hears someone whisper over the shrill ringing of the world around him.</p><p>There’s the distinctly hollow sounding clatter of something plastic being dropped on a tiled floor, and then a door slamming. Then, nothing. The ringing returns twofold.</p><p>He can’t find his glasses, mostly because his hands are numb and clumsy and really Wilbur is looking to be able to find his own arm where it’s attached to his body. His eyelids feel heavy and he finds it harder and harder to keep them open.</p><p>Wilbur’s eyes flutter closed, and suddenly, he cannot find the energy to open them back up.</p><p>***</p><p>Tubbo skids into the bunker with barely five seconds to spare, he doubles over, a terrible burning in his throat and an uneasy sway to his stomach. He stands there for several moments, heaving in breaths, bracing himself on his knees.</p><p>“Holy shit,” He rasps, throat all dry and ragged from his desperate scramble to complete his task.</p><p>“Hey Tubbo,” Schlatt greets, monotone yet still foreboding.</p><p>“Mr. President,” Tubbo greets, and he feels a small amount of pride wash over him, “I completed my task, sir!”</p><p>Schlatt raises an eyebrow, “Did you now? And just how many of my potions did you use?”</p><p>Tubbo bites his lip and shame washes through him, “Both,” he mutters.</p><p>“Sorry,” Schlatt says, “But I couldn’t hear you over all the whining toddlers around here.”</p><p>Tubbo clears his throat, then steels his resolve and says, “Both. I used both.”</p><p>Schlatt nods, “Alright then.” Then a shadow crosses his face, “You know, Tubbo, I really thought you’d be stronger by now.”</p><p>“Sorry, sir, I tried, but-“</p><p>“Yeah, yeah,” Schlatt interrupts and he falls silent, right hand twitching at his side.</p><p>Schlatt picks himself up from his desk chair and crosses the room, opening up the stall cabinet above the little porcelain sink.</p><p>“Alright Tubbo, I think it’s bedtime for you. You did well today,” He says, pulling down a glass bottle.</p><p>Tubbo takes it in his hands and the shimmering liquid swirls in the hollowed glass. He unplugs the cork and chugs the whole of it in one take. The effect is immediate, the world whips in circles around him, limbs go weak and he slumps over in the cot Schlatt had prepared earlier.</p><p>Schlatt leans back against the sink and sighs, shaking his head. The ghost of a smile sets into the corners of his mouth, and he sees the ocean again and he mutters, “Good thing the kid isn’t too bright. We’d all be screwed, wouldn’t we, Wilbur?”</p><p>But Wilbur isn’t there, he’s laying, miles above ground, bleeding out on a battlefield. Schlatt’s all alone, just like he’s always wanted. (Right?)</p><p>***</p><p>Beep.</p><p>Beep.</p><p>Beep.</p><p>Bee-</p><p>Tubbo jolts awake his body flinching up, frightened out of his mind and immediately slams back down into his bed. There's inch thick leather manacles tying him down to the bed and his eyes burn, but he scrunches his eyes up. No tears. No tears.</p><p>He must not disappoint Schlatt.</p><p>“Tubbo?” And Fundy is by his side.</p><p>Tubbo glares at him, takes in his messy red hair streaked with white, the purple stained under his eyes, his crinkled jacket.</p><p>“You really need to eat man, you passed out during the trial…”</p><p>“Says who,” Tubbo asks, and Fundy grimaces. The room is silent as they both regard each other.</p><p>“Tubbo, I don’t know what he, what Schlatt told you, but he doesn’t matter anymore because he’s gone,”</p><p>“He isn’t though,” Tubbo mutters, narrowing his eyes, “He’s still out there, I know it,”</p><p>“Tubbo, we’ve been over this, he’s literally three cells down from… yours.” He winces at the mention of Tubbo’s cell.</p><p>He shrugs, "Okay," He doesn't believe him.</p><p>***</p><p>“Great speech Tubbo, great speech,” Schlatt praises, slowly clapping on his left, Tubbo grins and feels a warmth spread in his chest.</p><p>He pats Tubbo’s shoulders and grins to his audience, “Incredible, just incredible.”</p><p>Then, he turns back to Tubbo, danger written all over his posture, “But, y’know, I've known exactly what you’ve been up to behind my back.”</p><p>Tubbo’s stomach drops and his face goes ashen, “What exactly have I been up to, Schlatt?”</p><p>A calm uniquely related to the dread that has weighted his body to the spot washes over him. He stares unflinchingly into Schlatt’s yellowed goat eyes.</p><p>“What exactly have I been up to? He asks!” Schlatt mocks, laughing darkly, “Oh Tubbo, I never should have trusted you. But that’s okay, because I know now, what you’ve been doing. The tunnels, the archives.”</p><p>Tubbo glares at him, remembers wisps of a time long, long ago, filled with marble pillars, paper filled libraries and the Roman men sitting all around him, staring into his soul. They judged him for his crimes, and now Tubbo judges Schlatt for his.</p><p>It all comes full circle in the end.</p><p>"Your absence from so many great events, like! Fuck! You even snuck off in the middle of this one! You think I didn't notice? Well I did!" He screams, face going red and eyes the color of lightning.</p><p>"Schlatt I-" Tubbo starts, keeping his face carefully masked, it's all he has before the dam holding the calm in breaks.</p><p>"Technoblade, please join me up on the stage." Schlatt mutters into the microphone, sounding dejected.</p><p>He's not watching him, and Quackity can only be so close, so Tubbo steels his resolve, and bolts.</p><p>He makes it three steps before suddenly he's been slammed to the ground by a falling sheet of wet sludgy mess.</p><p>He stares at the terrible mixture that's been dropped on him in confusion, there's so much of it, he had to practically swim to the top of it to get his head to open air. It tastes like earth in his mouth where he's accidentally inhaled some.</p><p>Its yellow, and chunky, and so, so heavy on his limbs. He can't move, and his gaze slips to the construction sights hidden neatly behind festival decorations full of black bricks and yellow chunks of concrete from the walls.</p><p>He looks down at the goop and then back to Schlatt, who just smiles and says, "Y'know treason isn't a very respectful thing to do around here. And neither is running in the middle of a trial. But that doesn't matter, because I found all your hidden concrete powder. Remember, from when I told you to burn it so we wouldn't have a reminder of those awful walls? And boy, was that useful!"</p><p>Schlatt leans over, looking Tubbo dead in the eye where he's stuck in a huge vat of concrete which is quickly drying all around him.</p><p>"What do you think of your nice little box, Tubbo? What do you think of the pieces of your precious walls now?" He crows and Tubbo shudders.</p><p>It all comes full circle in the end, after all.</p><p>***</p><p>The man's back, but this time he's not talking. And this time, they're not separated by a prison door, so Tubbo is leisurely memorizing every single thing about him. Every little bit of information could potentially be useful to Schlatt.</p><p>"Your burns aren't doing great." He finally says and Tubbo scowls at the mention of the burning and itching scabs covering his chest and streaking up his body all the way to his lips and nose.</p><p>"Aren't they giving you burn cream and such down there? I told them to." He tries again when he's met with Tubbo's silence.</p><p>"It's poisoned," Tubbo says, because it is.</p><p>"It's not, promise." The man says, because it's not.</p><p>Tubbo shrugs dismissively.</p><p>When is Schlatt coming back for me, He thinks privately and then his brain catches up with his body and he belatedly realizes he's said that outloud.</p><p>The man glares and huffs, and his face goes tomato red. It's almost impressive, how much anger can fit into such a small body. He's young, if Tubbo had to guess, maybe even his age.</p><p>"He's not coming back for you Tubbo, he tried to have you killed. I saved you."</p><p>"No you didn't, you're just trying to turn me against him." Tubbo mutters, and he's hit with a thought, "Y'know, you remind of someone. Someone I met a long time ago."</p><p>The other boy raises an eyebrow, "Who?"</p><p>Tubbo smiles wistfully, his head filled with the scent of fresh grown olives and sea salt, the sounds of gorgeous twinkling music, the chill of gold before it's been worn.</p><p>"The romans…" Then he frowns, "They didn't really like me in the end, though."</p><p>And he sees double, he sees the boy sigh and pick himself up from his chair, and he sees the cobbled streets he walked down long ago. He sees a hand placed on a door handle, quickly turning it and then slamming it closed, and he sees a crowd of people gathering around him, eyes and voices angry. He sees the empty atmosphere of his hospital room and he watches a crimson stain the white of his robes, watches it creep up the golden detailing in the fine linen.</p><p>He closes his eyes and is met with the blessed void. He laughs a little to himself, at the hysterics of it all, then he laughs louder and louder, until he's cackling into an empty room. He cackles and wheezes until tears stream down his face and that's where he completely breaks down, full on sobbing and crying out, voice raw and broken as he chokes on air.</p><p>Who was that man?</p><p>***</p><p>"Technoblade," Schlatt thunders, and he turns to the man, who looks much more nervous than Tubbo ever expected him to look, "I'm gonna need you to take him out,"</p><p>Techno fumbles with his trident, and Tubbo can barely believe it, but it's because he's shaking with nerves. He would have never expected this kind of anxiety from the man.</p><p>"Like… get him some food?" And the worst thing is, he sounds nervous, unlike every other time he's spoken in recorded history.</p><p>Schlatt scoffs, "No, like I need you to kill him."</p><p>"Uhhhhhh," His knuckles are going white where he grips his trident. His face is so pale it makes his rose hued hair look ever brighter.</p><p>"Technoblade, he must be punished for his treason, you understand, you were a king once."</p><p>Technoblade meets Tubbo's eyes, and he certainly looks how Tubbo is beginning to feel.</p><p>"'M sorry, Tubbo, I'll make it as painless as possible." He says, and sticks his trident into the ground, then pulls his crossbow from his back.</p><p>The dam breaks, the calm is gone. There is only panic. A firework goes off, and the world goes white.</p><p>***</p><p>Wilbur wakes up again and this time, when the world swims into view and it's still blurry because he needs his glasses, he stays still.</p><p>There's a weight on his hand and it takes his brain a few seconds to realize that it's a hand, holding his own.</p><p>He hums in a questioning trill and there's movement from his right side, where the hand-holder is.</p><p>Ever so gently, a cool metal is placed on his face and when he blinks this time the blur clears. The world becomes sharpened, perceivable, once more.</p><p>"Umm," A soft, familiar voice says, and Wilbur turns his head to look at him.</p><p>It's his son, he's completely sure of it, even if there's one more white streak than he left him with, and shadows stained under his eyes and a grimace easily playing on his lips.</p><p>"Fundy," Wilbur breathes, smiling so wide his cheeks already ache. He lifts a hand and puts it on his son's shoulder, drawing him down for a hug.</p><p>The prodigal son has returned.</p><p>***</p><p>When he wakes up again in the bunker, Schlatt is sitting across the room reading through an old book.</p><p>And then he remembers his burns, he’s wracked with a full body shudder and a screech rips out of his throat. Schlatt looks up in shock and shoves his book aside, leaving it open on the table.</p><p>“Shit kid, guess the sleep wore off,” He mutters in the midst of Tubbo’s screaming.</p><p>He fumbles with the lid of the burn cream and then dips his finger in and carefully holds Tubbo’s head in place and spreads the cream on the angry red skin. The whole process takes a painstaking ten minutes and slowly Tubbo’s cries get softer until he is reduced to only tears and wheezing breathes.</p><p>He’s gone limp, is leaning on the wall, his skin covered in sweat. He’s so vulnerable. Schlatt smiles, it’s perfect for his next step. It’s nothing personal, it really isn’t, it’s just the best way for Schlatt to slot every piece into place.</p><p>“Tubbo, I have to leave. Quackity’s betrayed me, he leaked the bunker’s location, but don’t worry. I have a backup, but I need to leave you here.” Tubbo groans quietly in response.</p><p>“Who…” Tubbo groans, then scrunches his eyebrows together, “Who ’s Quackity?”</p><p>Schlatt blinks, an uneasiness settling over him. The potion may have worked too well. But he knew the risks when he looked into it. It was always a shot in the dark of what exactly he would forget.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” Schlatt says.</p><p>The bunker is silent while Schlatt crams some food provisions into his bag and the rest of his last minute supplies. Tubbo’s breath is heavy and rasping and Schlatt narrows his eyes. For a moment, he sees himself in the boy, he remembers the flooded world, the way his lungs burned with each exhale, the lingering taste of salt in each inhale.</p><p>Then, it’s gone, he’s not the drowning man in the drowning world, he’s the president of the nation foolishly founded by Wilbur Soot, and he is the chess master, pushing each piece carefully into place. And that’s all the boy, Tubbo, is now. Just another piece of carved wood.</p><p>He slips all to easily back into his role and with a venomous smile he says, “You know Tubbo, if only you had done better, I wouldn’t be forced to leave you.”</p><p>Tubbo cracks open an eye and watches miserably as Schlatt leaves the bunker. He leaves the door wide open, leaves Tubbo without protection from the horrors of the world.</p><p>Leaves him open to be found by Tommy and the others. He blinks. His brain turns to static.</p><p>Who is Tommy?</p><p>***</p><p>“How’s Tubbo doing?” Eret asks with a voice like a campfire on a cold night; deep, warm, comforting.</p><p>Fundy lets out a long, quiet sigh. He drops his head into his arms and Eret moves to put a hand on his back.</p><p>“Sorry,”</p><p>“No, it’s fine. It’s just…” Fundy straightens up and stares into the woods beyond the castle grounds. From their place up on the stone walls, the world looks so small all highlighted in moonlight, “He’s not great. He won’t eat, he’s all paranoid all the time… I don’t know what to do.”</p><p>Eret nods, then swipes at their eye, making their sunglasses ride up. It exposes their chillingly empty whites. He notices Fundy staring and looks away then says, “I don’t know if there’s anything you can do. Sometimes the best you can do is provide a space to recover in. It’s like a broken bone; the best you can do is put a cast on it and then make sure no one else comes around trying to re-break it.”</p><p>“Huh,” Fundy says, “It’s like with Wilbur. I can’t give him a medicine to heal his stab wound, I just put the stitches in and give him medicine and hope for the best.”</p><p>“Yeah. There’s not much you can do for the kid at the moment… You just have to sit back and make sure no one else intervenes while he just…”</p><p>“Picks up the pieces,” Fundy finishes quietly.</p><p>Eret nods, “Yeah I suppose so.”</p><p>“Thanks for having me, Eret,” Fundy says.</p><p>“Yeah, of course. It was good seeing you again, dude.” They say, a soft smile creeping onto their lips.</p><p>Fundy pulls his coat tighter around him but the wind still chills him to the bone, “I’ve been up here too long, I’m freezing. Think I’m gonna head out.”</p><p>“Sure, I’ll walk you out?” They say, like it's a question. Fundy dips his head in assent.</p><p>At the gates they say goodbye again and Fundy begins walking home, he turns and looks over his shoulder when he’s only 15 feet away, and Eret is still there, watching him leave.</p><p>Fundy huffs and scrunches his nose. Damnit. He thinks, then spins on his heel and marches back up to Eret, and they wear an uneasy surprise on their face at Fundy’s re-arrival.</p><p>“Eret,” Fundy announces, like this is some bold declaration, “I don’t know why you did what you did, and I don’t know if I’ll ever understand.”</p><p>He cuts himself off and reigns in his emotions. Then, making eye contact with them through the shades, he says, “I forgive you.”</p><p>“Fundy-“ And they sound close to tears, but Fundy keeps going.</p><p>“I forgive you, I have for a while now, and I just thought you should know that.” Fundy says, then steps forward and grabs Eret in a hug.</p><p>For a few painful seconds, they don’t move and Fundy’s completely stiff, tail fluffed and ears completely rigid. Then Eret coughs, then hiccups and then Fundy realizes they’re crying, and finally, finally, they’re hugging him back.</p><p>“Thank you,” Eret says, voice mellow.</p><p>“Thank you,” Fundy returns, “For standing up for me after Schlatt was taken down. I did a lot of shit that I’m not proud of, probably took it too far, lost myself in the role. And… seeing you, doing everything you could to help Wilbur,”</p><p>His voice breaks, and he’s crying too, “It just reminded me… that you made decisions, yeah, and I might never see why, but now you’re out here doing everything you can to atone for them. I just hope that I could be forgiven one day too.”</p><p>“I forgive you, Fundy,” Eret says genuinely, “I know what it’s like to do something and not consider the consequences enough to realize the weight of your actions. Of course I forgive you.”</p><p>Fundy pulls back and gives him a watery smile, “Thank you, Eret. Thank you.”</p><p>Eret smiles back, “Of course.”</p><p>The wind howls by and the two sit down on the wooden steps at the entrance of the castle. They look at the stars together as they both calm down. Then, when Fundy feels like he can walk again without going all wobbly with emotions he says, “I really have to go now,”</p><p>“Sure, sure,” Eret laughs and they stand up together.</p><p>Fundy looks down the path leading home with a melancholic expression, “To picking up the pieces,” He says and raises his fist without much vigor.</p><p>They mirror his action, “To picking up the pieces.”</p>
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